Sunday, September 23, 2012

So there he was, almost five minutes into overtime.He had already launched eight shots on goal,
four of them on net.He had just stepped
onto the ice and made his way to the top of the crease in front of New York
Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.As
he got there the puck came out to him – right on the tape of his stick,
courtesy of Matt Hendricks who fed the puck out from behind the Ranger goal
line.With Lundqvist hugging the right
post to keep Hendricks from walking out and tucking the puck in, Brouwer had
the entire left side of the net beckoning to him…”shoot here.”

He did.

Sorta.

Brouwer chipped the puck up and over Lundqvist’s glove as
the goalie sprawled across the blue paint of the crease.But the aim was not true.The puck floated past the far post and off
the end boards, the Rangers dodging a bullet.The Rangers would win that game in triple-overtime, 2-1, to take a 2-1
lead in the Eastern Conference semi-final playoff series, a series the Rangers
would win in seven games.

Troy Brouwer came to the Capitals in June 2011 from the
Chicago Blackhawks in a trade for the Caps’ first round pick in the 2011 draft.He came to the Caps with a reputation for
being a tough as nails sort who would hit, chip in some goals, and provide the
gritty kind of play that helped the Blackhawks win a Stanley Cup in 2010.He was precisely as advertised.In his last two seasons in Chicago, Brouwer averaged
19.5 goals, 38 points, 226 hits, and 41 blocked shots.Last season with the Caps he had 18 goals, 33
points, 247 hits, and 60 blocked shots.He tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (five).

What might not have been expected was that opponents managed
to score in significant numbers with Brouwer on the ice.He tied for a team-worst minus-15, and only
Brooks Laich was on-ice for more goals scored against among Caps forwards.Caps goaltenders had their worst 5-on-5 save
percentage with Brouwer on the ice (.898).The differential of goals scored against/on ice per 60 minutes to goals
scored against/off ice per 60 minutes for Brouwer (-0.91) was the worst among
the team’s forwards by far (numbers from behindthenet.ca).His 2011-2012
season cleaved into an odd and distressing two-part year.In the 2011 portion of the season Brouwer was
10-8-18, plus-1 in 37 games.However, in
the 2012 portion of the season he was 8-7-15, minus-16 in 45 games.Not exactly the finishing kick one would have
hoped for.

Fearless’ Take…

There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked
into place, and the universe opens itself for a few seconds, to show you what
is possible…

Cheerless’ Take…

Oh my God, you’re from the playoffs!Hey, Terence Mann, Mr. Rink of Dreams …he
missed!But it’s not like Mr. Gap-Toothed
Goal Scorer didn’t flub his own chance when Anton Stralman couldn’t stick a
fork in the puck to settle it down, and then Alex Ovechkin pickpocketed him and
shot it off the post with five minutes left in the first OT.

Guys?... we’ll get to Alex Ovechkin another time.This is about Troy Brouwer.Caps fans… they never forget.Anyway…

The Big Question… At this stage of his career, does Troy
Brouwer become a Knublian Force?

Up until now, Troy Brouwer has been a perfectly fine
complementary player, averaging 17.2 goals per 82 games over a career than has
spanned parts of six seasons. Last year’s 18-goal total was right in line with
that level of performance.But Brouwer
might get a long look as the full-time top-line right winger on this Caps team.It was a spot at which he logged significant
minutes last season, but one had the impression the Caps could have or wanted
to do better.

At the moment, though, Brouwer might have the inside track
to play on the right side on a line with Alex Ovechkin and whichever center –
Nicklas Backstrom or Mike Ribeiro – is penciled into the middle of it.And that presents Brouwer with an opportunity
to let him find his inner “Knuble” – to be a guy who does the dirty work of
clogging the crease and collecting garbage goals.It was good enough for the departed Mike
Knuble to record 53 goals in 148 games in his first two seasons with the
Caps.

Here is how that opportunity might be realized.In his last three seasons covering a span of
239 games Brouwer has not had less than a 13.5 percent shooting percentage and
has averaged 15.4 percent efficiency over those three seasons on a total of 371
shots.In 82 games last season Brouwer
recorded more than two shots in a game only 20 times.He was also sixth among Caps forwards in
even-strength and power play ice time.If he gets a bit more ice time and more shooting opportunities in those
situations as a product of a more permanent role as the top-line right wing,
the shooting efficiency he has demonstrated over the past three years could pay
dividends.

In the end…

Joe Juneau, David Steckel, Troy Brouwer.All of them Capitals who had a chance to win
playoff games in overtime and didn’t.Juneau missed a penalty shot in the second of what would be four
overtimes in a 3-2 loss to the Penguins in the 1996 playoffs.He redeemed himself by scoring the overtime
goal against the Buffalo Sabres two years later than sent the Caps to their
first and, to date, only Stanley Cup final.Steckel missed an open net in Game 5 of the 2009 Eastern Conference
semifinals against Pittsburgh shortly before the Penguins won a 4-3 decision,
but he redeemed himself 48 hours later by scoring the overtime game-winner in
Game 6 in Pittsburgh and pushing the series to a seventh game.

Brouwer searches for his redeeming moment.That moment when all the cosmic tumblers have
clicked into place, and the universe opens itself for a few seconds, to show
you what is possible.

Theme: “..it ain't
about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving
forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is
done!”

-- Rocky Balboa

In the 2011-2012 season, Jay Beagle set NHL career highs in
games played (41), goals (four), points (five), penalty minutes (23), shots on
goal (49), hits (66), blocked shots (23), and face-off winning percentage (57.7
percent).That probably does not sound
impressive, considering that Beagle came into the 2011-2012 season with a total
of 41 games of NHL experience.

No doubt it would have been a much more impressive setting
of career highs for Beagle had he not walked into a right hand from Pittsburgh’s
Arron Asham early in the third period of the Caps’ third game of the season (a
3-2 overtime win).It started when
Beagle tangled with Penguin defenseman Kris Letang along the boards at the
Capitals’ blue line, knocking Letang’s helmet off.Asham challenged Beagle to a bout, and
Beagle, in what surely had to be among the worst decisions he made that day,
took him up on the offer.Beagle held
his own for about ten seconds, but two overhand rights to Beagle’s cheekbone
dropped the Capital forward to the ice.Beagle would miss the next 31 games with a concussion.

It was very unfortunate for Beagle, but he returned to
demonstrate an ability, not to be a high-end skill player, but a dependable
fourth liner.In 41 games he was a “minus”
player only seven times.He was 50
percent or better 24 times in 35 games in which he took faceoffs (57.7 percent
on the season).He was eighth among
Capital forwards in hits despite playing only half a season.He was charged with only six giveaways in 41
games.And his being on ice for only 13
goals against in those 41 games left him with the best goals against-on-ice to
games-played ratio of any Capital forward playing in at least 25 games.

It certainly earned him a promotion of sorts under Head
Coach Dale Hunter.In the post-season
Beagle was sixth among Capital forwards in average ice time per game.He was on ice for only four of the 27 goals
scored against the Caps in the 12 playoff games he played.In that 12th game he would block a
power play shot from New York Ranger Anton Stralman off his left foot in the
third minute of the second period of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference
semi-finals.Even though the shot broke Beagle’s foot, he would skate another 8:12 in that game (a 3-2 overtime
loss).However, it would be the last
time he would skate for the season.

Fearless’ Take…

The Caps were 23-13-5 in the 41 regular season games in
which Beagle played, 19-19-3 in the games in which he did not.He did not score a lot, but he made it count
when he did.Twice his goals gave the Caps
leads, and twice his goals gave the Caps a two-goal lead.Of course, it might have been easier to score
had Beagle not had the second lowest offensive zone start numbers (40.2
percent) at 5-on-5 among Capital forwards playing in at least 40 games (Jeff
Halpern, 39.2 percent).In spite of
that, though, he had the sixth highest Corsi value relative to quality of
competition among the 13 Caps forwards playing in at least 40 games (all
numbers from behindthenet.ca).He became
as much a “shutdown” forward as the Caps had, his 1.66 goals against/60 minutes
at 5-on-5 being second best on the team to Joel Ward (1.49).

Cheerless’ Take…

One of the problems that the Caps had in the playoffs in
recent years is getting nothing on the scoreboard from the third or fourth
lines.Jay Beagle, Matt Hendricks, Joel
Ward … a total of three goals in 40 man-games in the 2012 playoffs. Beagle had one goal in 221
minutes of playoff ice time.That is
better than Boyd Gordon getting none in 116 minutes the previous year, but it
would be good, given where Beagle is in his career, to chip in a little bit
more without sacrificing at the defensive end.

The Big Question… Can Adam Oates work wonders – even small
ones – with Beagle’s offense?

Jay Beagle has demonstrated an ability to play a solid,
earnest game in his own end.It did not
go unnoticed when the playoffs started last season.But at the other end, one wonders if someone
can find the key to Beagle’s offense.He
had 47 goals in 211 regular season games over four seasons at Hershey.Maybe there is something there that some
tweaks will uncover.Consider this.New Jersey Devil David Clarkson compiled a
total of 52 goals in 298 games in the NHL before last season.As an assistant coach with the Devils last
season Adam Oates showed Clarkson some video and suggested he shorten his stick.Clarkson finished the season with
30 goals, obliterating his previous season high of 17.This is not to say Oates can make Jay Beagle
a 30-goal scorer, or even a 20-goal producer.But if Oates can get Beagle to, say, double his production, those extra
four goals could come in handy and at least make the fourth line a more
credible threat.

In the end…

Jay Beagle might never be a star, but he could be a guy you
win with.He has played on two Calder
Cup champions in the AHL, and he played on a champion in the ECHL (Idaho Steelheads
in 2007).The Caps record with him in
the lineup last season projected to a 102-standings point pace (an 82-point
pace without him).

Beagle sustained a concussion early in the season, came back, and was a solid
performer who took on a bigger role in the playoffs.In those playoffs he broke his foot, but the
club saw enough in him to re-sign Beagle to a three-year, $2.7 million
contract.He says he feels no lingering
effects from the injury that ended his season last year and looks forward to working with the new head coach.Jay
Beagle has taken some shots, gotten up, and moved forward.Like Rocky said, “that’s how winning is done!”

WE INTERRUPT OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

The Washington Capitals enter the 2016-2017 as one of 12 franchises in the NHL never to win a Stanley Cup. Of that group, only the St. Louis Blues (48 seasons), Buffalo Sabres (45 seasons), and Vancouver Canucks (45 seasons) have gone longer never having won a Cup than the Capitals (41 seasons). Six teams came into the league after the Capitals entered the league in 1974-1975 and have won Stanley Cups: Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils (1976-1977), Edmonton Oilers (1979-1980), Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche (1979-1980), Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (1979-1980), Tampa Bay Lightning (1992-1993), and the Anaheim Ducks (1993-1994).

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